Something to Contribute
by Raberba girl
Summary: Well, at least ONE person is interested. Attempted ZekuNami.


Something to Contribute

A Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl

Summary: Well, at least ONE person is interested. Attempted ZekuNami.

A/N: Takes place during a theoretical KH3.

I thought that keeping the Nobody names of the lower members would sound less weird than making up Somebody names for them. ^^;

o.o.o

Some of them were just indifferent.

"Hm?" Lea murmured, indulgent but distracted.

"I...I mean, it's not that impressive...especially compared to all of you...but I just-"

"ROXAS! What are you, blind?" he yelled, laughing, watching Isa score a hit in the training ring.

"Lay off, my shortcuts are messed up!" Roxas yelled back in irritation, downing a Hi-Potion as Xion distracted the former Luna Diviner.

Lea suddenly blinked and glanced over at Naminé. "What were you saying?"

"Ummm...nothing."

She knew she had just caught him at a bad time. No doubt he'd be more attentive when his best friends weren't being interesting. ...Still, she couldn't muster up the courage to bring it up again. It was so dull compared to their powers, their strengths; she was always, always going to be the weakest one...

o.o.o

"What's that mean?" Roxas said dubiously when she mentioned it to him.

"Um...well, it's- I can- Um..."

"So you can fight like us now?"

"No, not like you," she said quickly. "I'm still a..." What was that word? "I'm a, um, civilian. I just...thought it would..."

He shifted restlessly from foot to foot. "Well, I'm meeting up with Axel and Xion and Saïx for ice cream, so I'll see you later, okay?"

"...Okay, Roxas." A deep breath. "Have fun." She watched him wave a hand carelessly and walk away.

o.o.o

"Oh!" Xion exclaimed, vaguely happy. "That's great, Naminé!"

Then they just stood there awkwardly for a while.

"I..." Naminé couldn't think of anything to say.

"Well...um, that's great. Have you told the others?"

"Yes..." Did that count as a lie? "Sort of..."

"Oh. Well, that's cool."

"..."

"...You want some ice cream, Naminé?"

"Yes, thank you."

o.o.o

Sora made her feel the worst, with his widened eyes and the change in his breathing. "Y- Oh...um, so you...like, you can do...more stuff to people..."

Horrified realization. "Oh! N-No, nothing like that, I mean, I can, I just, it's not, I haven't really-"

Determined swallow, brave smile. "I'm happy for you, Naminé. It's cool getting new powers, isn't it? Just - this time, can you maybe tell Riku or Kairi or Donald or Goofy or Jiminy if you, you know, change me again? I'd just...I'd just kinda like someone to still know the real me..."

It was all she could do to whisper the words, "I'd never hurt you, ever again," before she had to run, before he could see her cry.

o.o.o

Others were worse than indifferent.

"Oh, splendid," Isa said sarcastically. "So not only do we now have a legion of over-exuberant children constantly running underfoot, but now we get to experience their adolescent daydreams in three dimensions, with full color and sound. If you, too, hold any attachment whatsoever to Those Books, I warn you: rather than suffer any physical manifestation of their contents, I would seriously consider returning to the new Organization."

"I don't like _Twilight_," was all she managed to say. Which was a lie, but she couldn't do any better when facing the man who was every bit as intimidating as he had been when still the Luna Diviner.

"Aw, does the widdle doll have a talent now?" Larxene had later scoffed. "_Besides_ wrecking people's most precious memories, that is? I'd say it'd better be more impressive than your pathetic sketches, but, heh, it'd be impossible for anything to be worse."

o.o.o

Naminé dared tell no one else, now. Always doomed to be the weak link, the one who was always falling behind, always targeted, always needing to be rescued, she kept quiet and kept her head down and sketched more than ever. If she could help at all, even just a little bit...the extra vines in the undergrowth that caused Lea's opponent to stumble, a Frisbee coming out of "nowhere" to catch Isa's off guard, a pair of unfurling wings to carry Roxas when he fell, a copied image of Xion that was mistaken for her, a starburst to illuminate the darkness surrounding Sora...

o.o.o

None of them realized what it was at first. "It seems that Lady Luck is on our side," Luxord had mused at one point.

"I bet it's fairies," Demyx joked once, strumming on his sitar. "Let's feed 'em candy and see if they'll do the dishes and the laundry, too."

"I think someone's helping us," Sora guessed happily. "Like you used to do, Riku."

"An ally hidden in the shadows," Isa had grumbled. "I hesitate to trust one who will not show his face..."

It was Even who figured it out first. "Naminé," he'd ordered, "stay out of the next battle. We're sending you to Wonderland with Demyx for recon."

She had been dismayed. "But-!"

"Dude!" Demyx's yelp interrupted, "You're _arguing_ about _recon_?"

"Do as Even says," Isa had ordered brusquely. "We don't need you getting in the way yet again."

"Hey," Xion had said with a warning frown, putting her arm protectively around Naminé.

"Isa, do we need to have the Be Nice To My Cute Things talk again?" Lea had threatened, earning an eyeroll.

"What are your 'Cute Things'?" was Roxas's suspicious inquiry.

In any case, Naminé had done as she was told, and was horrified to come back and find Sora laughing sheepishly as Riku poured Elixir over his wounds, Roxas ill from the dark corridors after having tried to pass through them with a coat that had been torn to shreds, Kairi in a coma from trying so hard to maintain the Shield of Light, and Isa in bad shape from his latest brush with Xehanort's darkness.

"I should have been here," she'd said tearfully. "I should have-"

"You were following orders," Even snapped. "You did well. Now shut up."

"Professor," Ienzo had said then, a little reproachfully. "Just because the experiment was successful doesn't mean it hasn't taken a toll." His expression had softened as he turned to the girl. "It's not your fault, Naminé."

"If I'd just been here..."

"Come eat," Aeleus had said, leading her gently but firmly away. "You need to rest, as well."

"Hey, I was on that mission, too," Demyx had reminded them, and got sent off to take care of some errands at the synthesis shop in response.

They kept her out of three battles total. Disastrous ones, where people would have died if not for King Mickey. Naminé, unable to sleep, heard Even's and Ienzo's arguing voices late into the night, muffled by the walls, and the next morning, she was told to accompany the party on their next mission.

"Ienzo will be your guard."

"Yes," she said meekly.

"I'll make sure you're safe, Naminé," he assured her.

She finally looked up at him and found herself just...gazing for a while. At his soft, serious expression, a look that left no doubt in her heart that he genuinely cared about her. "Thank you, Ienzo," she said, her voice stronger.

"It will be a pleasure."

o.o.o

_'How can it be, though?'_ she thought as she stared at him now, horror threatening to choke her. She couldn't move because his body was pinning her to the floor, but after a moment, he sucked in a pained breath and managed to lift himself up a little, resting more of his weight on his hands. "Nami...né..."

"Potion, I need a Potion," she said frantically. "I-Ienzo, in your pockets, your backpack, do you have-?" She was already searching, hands moving over him in a way that would have made her blush if she wasn't too panicked to notice, but he whispered "Cura," and then fell to the side with a sigh of relief.

"Ienzo!"

"I'm all right..."

"You're so pale," she said, pressing her hand to his face.

"The Cura spell causes a gradual increase in HP over time, I'll be perfectly all right in a few minutes..."

"You ran out of Cure spells?" she said anxiously.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"And Ethers...?"

"Calm yourself, Naminé. Your friends are doing their jobs."

Roxas and Xion were, indeed, fighting fiercely to keep a charmed circle free around them, the line of last defense against anything that happened to get past Lea, Isa, Marluxia, and Larxene farther out. If they could just buy enough time for Sora and Riku to get to Xehanort...

"But your back," she whispered. "It must hurt so much..." Ienzo's defenses had been specialized against lightning magic, which was different than what he had actually been hit with. The attack had burned through his coat and the shirt beneath, leaving a large, ugly wound on the flesh itself.

"It looks worse than it feels."

She didn't want to accuse someone of lying, but...

"It's already healing, see?"

Yes, but so slowly...he hadn't even tried to get up yet.

"That attack was aimed at me."

"You know it's my job to shield you from exactly that sort of thing."

"I just..." Couldn't _stand_ to see people getting hurt because of her.

"Naminé, there is a reason why we needed you in this battle."

Oh- She snatched up her sketchbook again, though she couldn't help glancing at him. "You...know?"

"About your ability to give life to dreams and imaginings? Of course."

She took a deep breath and swiftly began to draw.

Zexion's eyes soon widened, and he scrambled to his feet. "Not _me_! I told you, I'm perfectly all right. I'm back to 78% already, you should be focusing on the others."

"_You're_ the one who needed my help most," she said stubbornly, gripping the book so that her drawing was covered.

"We don't have time to argue. Please, Naminé." Gazing at her again, with a strange, quiet kind of hope that made her breathless...

"I'm sorry. I'll draw."

She was able to tune out the battle then. Focused on the pictures, on shaping her dreams into reality, on sending help where it was most needed, trusting Ienzo's ability to keep her safe without question and with no trace of doubt...

She couldn't believe it at first, when it was over. She watched Sora dragging Riku into some wonderfully silly victory dance with Donald and Goofy, watched Axel try to high-five Roxas and Xion and then having to teach them how to complete the gesture properly, watched Isa helping Braig to his feet with a shared, meaningful look between eyes now devoid of gold...

"It's all thanks to you, Naminé." It was Ienzo's voice behind her, so quiet that she was not startled, confirming the very thoughts she was trying desperately to deny.

"N-No...I didn't-"

His ungloved hand came to rest on her bare shoulder. Her breath caught, then she struggled to meet his eyes, and felt a little weak from the admiration she saw there.

"That was splendid work, better than I dared to predict. You truly are the key to winning this war."

"I-"

He smiled, and opened his laptop. "If you don't mind, would you perhaps spare me a little time to explain the details of this ability of yours, as much as you can? I'd be quite interested to know as much as you can tell me, even if it's only for a few minutes..."

After being brushed off so often, dismissed, pushed aside all this time, and now he wanted to know if she _minded_ being the center of attention for somebody who truly cared?

She could not have stopped the smile from spreading over her face even if she had tried. "I think it's going to take more than a few minutes."

He smiled back. She decided that he was lovely. "All the better."

o.o.o

Author's Notes: Too much AkuSaiRokuShi, I couldn't help it... Pretty lame excuse for a ZekuNami fic, he barely even showed up until the end... *flails*


End file.
